Regenerator for breathing apparatus



F. W. KOEHLER.

REGENERATOR FOR BREATHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.27. I919.

1 ,309,896. Patented July 15, 1919.

TATES PATENT FREDERICK WILLIAM KOEHLER, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN ATMOS CORPORATION, OF WILKINSBURG STATION,PITTSBURGH, PENN- SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

REGENERATOR FOR BREATHING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1919.

Application filed March 27, 1919. Serial No. 285,700.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that I, FREDERICK WILLIAM Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have.

invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regenerators forBreathing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact descrlptlon of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanyin drawings, and to letters orfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to regenerators for breathin and resuscitatingdevices, and has for its 0' ject the construction of a simple retainerfor the regenerating substance, usually a hydrate of .sodium orpotassium, and is designed for the convenient and rapid filling of suchgenerators with the regenerating substance and to facilitate completeabsorption.

It also embodies a construction which is simple to manufacture, readilytaken apart, and readily reassembled, and includes a container or canhaving an inlet opening for respired air and an outlet opening forpurified air, to which openings the usual conduits are connectible.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are similarly designatedFigure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away to show the interiorof a twocompartment regenerator.

Fig. 2 is a plan View, partly in section, of the air distributordesigned to retain the regenerating substances.

Fig. 3is a perspective View of one of the end grids of the distributer.

Fig. 1 is a section showing one of the reticulated or net air-passagetubes.

' of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 showing the method of holding thepartitions separating the distributors.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal plan view, with'the cover removed, of a singlecompartment regenerator. 1

The regenerator shown in Fig. 1 comprises a metallic casing; or can 1divided by a removable partition 2. This partition fits closely againstone end of a can by means of a resilient flange 3, and at the other endof the can by means of resilient flanged lugs 4, formed by cutting awaya portion of the partition between said lugs at 5, the cut-away portionbetween the lugs forming an air passage from one compartment, 6, to theother compartment, 7

Each compartment is provided with. a conduit connection, such as8 and 9,respectively. The partition 2 is held in place by spaced lugs 10 on thetop and bottom of the can 1, preferably, but not necessarily, made byindenting the metal at the top and bottom so as to form a recess 11 intowhich the edge of the partition seats and is securely held, when the canis closed by the lid 12.

In each compartment is placed a distributing unit such as shown in Fig.2. Such a unit comprises a pair of end-grids 13, more clearly shown inFig.3 in perspective, of sheet metal, having turned-up flanges 14c,preferably unsoldered or unconnected at their corners, so as to makeresilient contact with the the sides of the compartment in which theyare placed. The sheet metal grid hasslots 16 formed in it by punchingupthe metal so as to provide flanges l5 surrounding these slots. Theflanges, preferably but not necessarily, have the same direction fromthe body of the plate as the flanges 14.

There is one such grid at each end of a compartment, and these grids areheld together to form aunit by reticulated metal or woven wire flattubes 17, as shown in section in Fig. 4. Such a fiat tube is formed by asheet of wire net, for example, placed over a mandrel with the edgesclenched together or interlocked or turned over at the narrow edge ofthe tube, as shown at 17 These wire tubes are inserted in the grids, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, and by reason of the rough or feather-edges onthe flanges 15 formed by the punching operation, the tubes are firmlyheld in place and hold the grids together to form a unit, which unit isIn order to fill such a regeneratorcan, it

is simply necessary to remove the lid 12 and pour the granulatedregenerating'material over the tubes between the end grids, fillingthespaces between the tubes 17. The tubes- 17 themselves form airpassages through their interior for the air to be purified, and byreason of their reticulated or open structure, enable the air to comeinto proper contact with the absorbing material between the tubes and tobe purified thereby.

The grids are so arranged in thelr respective compartments that'there isformeda corners of the container 1, as shown at 19,

this rounded portion determining the width of the chambers 18 betweenthe grids and the end walls of the container.

In operation air is admitted through one of the connections shown, forexample 8, passes into the chamber 18 at such connection, passes throughand around the netting tubes 17 in cont-act with the purifying substanceto the opposite end into a like chamber 18, thence through the cut-awayportion 5 in the partition 2 in the chamber 18 of the neXt unit at thefront end of the container and out through the connection 9, or viceversa. The compartments 6 and 7 are thus included in series between theconduit connections 8 and 9.

In Fig. 6 I-have shown a single compartment regenerator, to all purposesidentical with one-half of the regenerator shown in Fig.1, there beingan inlet connection at one end, as 8, and an outlet connection 9 at theother end, the air passing straight through the re enerator. a

The most di cult question is the re-charg-- ing of such regeneratorsafter the sodium hydrate has be-come semi-liquid by absorbing carbonicacid. With my improved regenerator this is a'simple matter, allthat isnecessary being to remove the lid 12 of the regenerator when the wholeinterior can be lifted out, separated and washed in running water, afterwhich it is dried and replaced and refilled, as above described.

As already stated, the flanges 14 of the .grids are not connected to oneanother at the grid flanges before the lid is placed on,

as an extra precaution.

The absorption of the carbonic acid from the respired air is complete.

I claim 1. A regenerator for breathing apparatus and the like,comprising a casing and a unit for distributing regenerating materialtherein, comprising end grids and parallel reticucomprising a casing anda unit therein for lated tubular members held in place by said grids,theregenerating material being distributed between the tubular membersand grids.

regenerator for breathing apparatus,

retaining regenerating material, comprising flanged end members havingopenings therein and flat tubular members inserted in the openings insaid end members, the regenerating material being filled in the spacesbetween said tubes and end members.

3. In a regenerator for breathing apparatus; a casing, a removable lidtherefor, a removable partition having a cut-away portion at one end andextending from one of the parallel end walls of the casing to the otherend wall thereby forming two compartments connected together at one endand a removable regenerator unit in each compartment, the lid and bottomof said casing having spaced lugs between which said removable partitionis retained.

4. A regenerator for breathing apparatus, comprising a casing divided bya partition into two compartments, said partition having a cut-awayportion at one endto provide communication between said compartments, aconduit conneotionfor each compartment arranged to include thecompartments in series between said connections, and a regenerating unitin each compart ment comprising a pair of end grids and reticulated,flattened tubes held in the grid openings, said grids spaced from theend walls of the respective chambers to form distributing chambers.

5. A regenerator unit comprising end grids having resilient, peripheralflanges, and the grid openings having flanges, and flat, tubular membersof wire net inserted in the grid'openings.

6. A regenerator, comprising av casing having rounded corners, aregenerator unit therein having flanged end members, and

end members, said end members maintained spaced from the end walls ofsaid casing by the curvature of the corners of the casing t'o'form airdistributing chambers.

'7. A regenerator, comprising a casing having rounded corners, andspaced lugs on its top and on its bottom, a removable partition heldbetween said lugs and havln a cut-away portion, said partition dividingthe easing into compartments, a regenerator slots, said grids beingmaintained spaced from the ends of said compartments by said roundedcorners, and conduit connections including the compartments betweenthem.

8. A regenerator unit comprising a pair of grids having flangesunconnected at their Wire net tubular members inserted in said'.

unit in each compartment comprising grids corners and flanged slots, ingroughened or feathered edges, and flattened wire net tubes whose edgesare clenched at the narrow sides of the tubes, said tubes being retainedin the slots of said grids.

9. A regenerator for breathing apparatus and the like, comprising acasing, and a unit for distributing regenerating material therein,having end ids and reticulated tubular members held in place by saidrids, the regenerating material being distributed between thetubularmembers and grids.

10. A regenerator comprising a casing having rounded corners, aregenerator unit therein havin an end member maintained spaced from theend Wall of said casin by the corner curvature ofthe casing to orm saidflanges hava distributing chamber between said member and end Wall.

11. A regenerator for breathing apparatus comprising a casing having aremovable top and a bottom, a removable partition in the casing having aresilient flange at one end engaging one wall of the latter andresilient lugs at the other end engaging the opposite I wall of thecasing, thereby forming two compartments communlcating through an airpassage at one end formed between said FREDERICK WILLIAM KOEHLER.

